Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Breitling Extreme 800 - Herbert Nitsch, No Limits Freediving

Breitling have been sponsoring Herbert Nitsch, the world's deepest man on a single breath, for a while, and even created a watch for him - the Chronomat 44mm Flying Fish. Herbert, of course, is famous for reaching the extraordinary depth of 214m, using a weighted sled and a coke bottle. What? A coke bottle? Yes. If you watch Herbert's incredible video (linked below), you'll see him stop at c.22m to exhale the air from his lungs into a plastic bottle. He used this "external lung" to allow him to equalise on his trip down to 214m (702ft). You'll also see him releasing the bottle, allowing precious air to escape. Amazing that he didn't feel the need to use it all... 

Herbert has recently announced on his 'blog that he is attempting to break this record next June - by going to 800ft, and from there, he plans to attempt 900 and 1,000ft dives in due course. The first part of this is called Extreme 800, and is exclusively sponsored by Breitling. In order to break the record, he intends to use a specially-designed "Rocket-sled" (see render opposite and video below). This is currently (20th-30th October 2011) being tested in Santorini, Greece. No word yet on what external equalisation device he intends to use - but I doubt it'll be another coke bottle!

I hope to have some photos of Herbert, his sled and his watch shortly!

Herbert's WR No Limits Dive to 214m can be seen here.

And a new video of the "Rocket-sled" here:


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